January 23, 2024

Dozier asks for committee hearing on parental-rights initiative

OLYMPIA… Under Washington’s constitution, initiatives to the Legislature are to have precedence over all other measures before lawmakers except spending bills. Sen. Perry Dozier today added an exclamation mark to that requirement by formally asking the chair of the Senate’s K-12 education committee to hold a hearing on Initiative 2081...
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January 13, 2024

E-News: Session begins… and so has talk of tax increases

Dear Neighbors, Greetings from the state Capitol! Our 2024 session began at noon a week ago with a combination of ceremony and housekeeping. Although it’s my fourth session as your 16th District state senator, I can’t imagine that the opening-day traditions will ever get old — and as a member...
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December 22, 2023

E-News: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I’ll keep this brief, knowing what a busy time of year it can be. The next legislative session begins two weeks from Christmas Day. If you have any ideas for legislation, please get them to me using the contact information in this message. I’ve “prefiled” two bills for the 2024...
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December 01, 2023

Update from Olympia: Our pro-agriculture agenda, and more on carbon-law situation

Dear Neighbor, Greetings from the state Capitol! Even though the “interim” period between legislative sessions won’t officially be over until January 8, when the 2024 session begins, it unofficially ended for me with the Thanksgiving holiday (I hope yours was a happy one). Between an all-day Senate Republican meeting on...
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October 05, 2023

Senator says Ecology must be open about program driving up fuel prices

OLYMPIA… While raking in more than $1 billion from the carbon-pricing program that is behind Washington’s crushingly high fuel prices, the state Department of Ecology isn’t being fully open about who is buying and holding the carbon credits. A state senator says that has to change. The state’s Climate Commitment...
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September 26, 2023

E-News: Mid-interim update on fuel prices, ag issues, parents’ rights and more

September 2023 Dear Neighbor, Greetings from here at the ranch! Legislators refer to the months between our annual sessions as “interim,” and if you look at when the 2023 session ended (late April) and when the 2024 session begins (early January), we’re not much past the halfway point of this...
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July 20, 2023

Republican ag leaders highlight hypocrisy of Democrats on gas-price debacle

OLYMPIA… Agricultural-policy leaders from the Senate Republican Caucus are weighing in on attempts to gaslight the public on why Washington’s gas prices remain highest in the nation. While Gov. Jay Inslee and other Democratic elected officials tried to lay blame on the oil and gas industry during a news conference...
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July 14, 2023

E-News: Affordability crisis deepens in WA, between gas prices and new tax on workers

On Tuesday morning I had the pleasure of taking part in a memorable ceremony for the B5 Community Learning Center in Kennewick. Often the shovels are put in the hands of the elected officials and others who have had roles in getting a project to the construction stage; this time...
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April 27, 2023

E-News: 2023 session ends on schedule, but a big problem remains

No one would have seen this in 2021 and 2022, because pandemic restrictions kept the public from being heard when legislators were in session. I’m glad that’s over! The people of Washington have the right to come to their Capitol and assemble peacefully, the way we saw last week from...
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